The Get Fit Summer Challenge is a 4-week strength and cardio workout plan created by NYC-based trainer Jessi Kneeland, NASM, of ReModel Fitness, that comes with delicious recipes for a range of goals.
How the challenge works:
1. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays you'll do strength workouts that work your entire body.
Mondays also target your arms.
Wednesdays also target your legs.
Fridays also target your core.
2. You'll do the same Monday, Wednesday, Friday workouts each week for the entire month, each week using incrementally heavier dumbbells. For example, if you did 10-pound goblet squats on the first Monday of the challenge, aim to use 12-pound dumbbells in week two. If you don't have access to dumbbells in the weights you need, you can add extra sets to your workout instead.
3. When selecting a weight to start with, there's a simple rule of thumb: Choose a weight you can lift with perfect form for the number of reps prescribed plus one or two more. If you think you can do more than two additional reps with perfect form, you should use heavier weights.
4. Saturdays are for cardio. You will choose the exercise you most enjoy — running, swimming, biking, elliptical, rowing, etc. — and we will give you guidelines for time and intervals.
We also created 25 super healthy new recipes you can mix and match to fit your health and fitness goals throughout the month-long challenge.
This is the workout you'll do every Monday:
This is the workout you'll do every Friday:
And this is the cardio workout you'll do every Saturday:
Hey! While you're at it, we'd love to feature you in a BuzzFeed Video celebrating your accomplishments. Please send us videos of yourself participating in the challenge (using good form!) and your progress along the way. Videos should be filmed horizontally (as a landscape, not vertically as you would a portrait) and in bright lighting. Send videos to GetFitResults@buzzfeed.com.
Don't forget to include how you'd like to be credited when submitting your video! For example: "[Name of video clip] by Ashly Perez."
Special thanks to our fitness models Noelle Nieva and Josh Martinez, and to Rogue Fitness for providing dumbbells.